Materials: A growing wind industry demands more durable coatings

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Excerpt: With total installed capacity reaching 250 GW at the end of 2011, wind is the most prevalent source of renewable energy today. Furthermore, increasingly strict renewable portfolio standard programs–33% by 2020 in California, 20% in Europe, and 15% in China–provide significant impetus for the …

Lighter materials hold key to efficient transportation

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Excerpt: Transportation will choose emerging structural materials to save fuel, as energy use rises 53% from 2008 levels to 765 quadrillion BTUs in 2035, says Lux Research. While carbon fiber and nanomaterials tend to gain all the hype, other advanced structural materials such as magnesium and advanced high …

Coating developer wins best-practices award

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Excerpt: Hempel’s accomplishments in the protective-coatings market for wind turbines have won the company the 2011 Frost & Sullivan Product Line Strategy Award. Business research and consulting firm  Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Award recognises outstanding achievement and superior perform …

Fatigue-life calculations certified for turbine castings

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Excerpt: GL Renewables Certification has certified the engineering software nCode DesignLife. The structural integrity software for the fatigue calculations of cast and forged structural machinery components in wind turbines has been evaluated on the basis of GL RC's Guideline for the Certification of Wind T …

Blade manufacturer readies production

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Excerpt:                   Wind turbine blade manufacturer GBT USA (Global Blade Technology) announced in mid-September 2011 it would be opening a production plant in the U.S. has seen quite a bit of growth in the last four months. I …

High-performance fiberglass allows longer and lighter blades

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Excerpt: Developer 3B-the fibreglass company is launching HiPer-tex W2020 high performance roving to satisfy OEMs’ needs for longer and lighter rotor blades to meet the challenging offshore and bigger onshore multi-megawatt wind turbines. Building upon the recently developed sizing technology applied to …

Software assists designing with composites

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Excerpt:   Fibersim software version 2012 reduces risk throughout the wind energy, aerospace, and automotive industries by optimizing design and manufacture of innovative, durable, and lightweight composite structures. The software, developed by Vistagy, was acquired by Siemens on December, 2011. …

Thin-film coating protects wind-turbine blades

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Excerpt: An advanced “thin-film” HSP-7401 Polyurethane Primer and AUE-50000 Series Polyurethane Topcoat are available for wind-turbine blades. The coating uses a thinner to reduce labor, material use, and weight while providing unparalleled adhesion, erosion resistance, and flexibility protection propert …

Improving wind-farm reliability with small cable materials and standards

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Excerpt: Wind power repairs and downtime are more expensive than in conventional utility-grid systems. This makes reliable equipment especially important. Improving wind-power reliability is all about planning. Each system component is considered in terms of its total life-cycle cost–not just the price to …

Clear silicone seals gaps on outdoor electrical equipment

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Excerpt: Polywater RTV Silicone seals voids and seams on outside electrical apparatus such as meters, boxes, light fixtures, and conduit penetrations to keep them weatherproof. The RTV Silicone is said to be well suited for numerous external sealing needs. The material is packaged in a 10.3 ounce (305 …